How to Avoid Being Scammed and Prevent Fraud
Every day it seems like a new scam rears its ugly head, perpetrated by cybercriminals and fraudsters intent on stealing your identity and wiping out your bank account. GPT AI and other rapid advances in technology help scammers to grow more sophisticated in their schemes, and scams are increasingly harder to detect.
From social media messages and links to email to tried and true robocall, text, and snail mail methods, scammers target unsuspecting victims and hope they find easy prey.
Films like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Dropout remind us that con artists can lure people in from all backgrounds — wealthy, highly educated targets can get scammed just as often as their middle and lower class counterparts.
You may wonder how to prevent scams, and if there’s a way to protect yourself and your loved ones. The good news is that there are ways to spot a scam, prevent being scammed, and to safeguard against fraud.
Scam statistics you should know
Although older people are often the targets of scams, scams target everyone and scammers lurk around every corner. You may even have already been the target of a scam, or know someone who unwittingly fell for a stranger’s con and lost money in a fraud scheme.
You’re not alone. A recent Gallup poll reported that in the past year, 15% of U.S. adults fell victim to a scam. Here are some other scam statistics you should know:
- According to the University of Michigan, 75% of 50-80 year old adults have experienced a scam attempt via the internet, a phone call, an email, text, or snail mail.
- 35-45-year-olds are the most likely demographic to lose money in a scam.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that in 2023, scams targeting the elderly (elder fraud) rose by 14%.
- 85% of people who are targeted report digital scamming attempts.
- Fake tech support is the most common type of scam.
- E-commerce scammers steal the most money.
- U.S. adults 65 and older lose $2.9 billion to scammers yearly.
You shouldn’t feel ashamed if you don’t know how to not get scammed — as these statistics reveal, when we’re caught with our guards down, scams can impact us all. It’s important to understand what types of scams are out there, and how you can prevent fraud.
You may not be able to avoid being a scammer’s target, but you can take steps to prevent falling victim and losing your finances, having your identity stolen and more.
What are scammers’ goals?
Typically, scams are all about the money. Cybercriminals may target you in different ways, but ultimately, they’re trying to steal your finances or your reputation. In order to understand how to prevent being scammed, here are some of the most common targets you should protect:
- Your bank account information
- Your credit score and access to new lines of credit
- Your credit card and debit card numbers
- Your identity (Your name, private photos, educational and professional background, etc.)
- Your personal data (Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport, and other government information)
- Your social media profiles
Types of scams
The days of the blatantly obvious “Nigerian Prince” and foreign email schemes to rip you off are in the past. Modern scams can be far more subtle and initially harder to spot. It’s vital to know what kind of common scams currently exist so that you can know how to avoid falling prey to bad actors who want to steal from you.
Here are several examples of the most common modern scams:
- Phishing Scams: Phishing scams often target victims through email. If you’ve ever received an email purporting to be from Amazon or FedEx (or another nationally recognized brand that you frequently utilize) demanding that you follow a link to correct an issue or to re-enter your personal information, you’ve been a target of a scammer.
- Online Shopping Scams: Have you ever seen a shopping ad in your social media feed from a company you’ve never heard of before? Online shopping ads have become a favorite modus operandi of modern scammers. These scams often feature non-existent companies that claim to sell quality goods for cheap prices. Online shopping scammers may target you for phishing emails if you click on the ad, and once you’ve entered your payment information, will steal your personal data and payment without ever sending your purchased products.
- Charity Scams: Charity scams use a multitude of methods to dupe victims. They may come to your door, call or text you, or set up bogus websites to steal your money. These scams crop up after a local, national, or international tragedy or during the holiday season. Charity scammers may pose as representatives of a real non-profit organization, or may work under a pop-up with a name like “USA Disaster Relief.” They’ll often use urgent plea tactics and demand that you make an immediate donation.
- Job Scams: Job scams prey on people looking for work through online job postings and job boards. These scammers demand that potential “employees” pay upfront for training materials or an upfront investment in the fraudulent company. Job scammers offer high wages for job seekers with minimal to no experience, often highlight minimum working hours, urgently ask candidates to immediately commit to employment, and don’t reveal company details or legitimate contacts.
- Romance Scams: Romance scams prey on targets who are lonely or looking for a love connection. Romance scammers often use catfishing tactics to create bogus dating profiles, create romantic connections with their victims, may ask for money to travel, and then disappear.
How to prevent scams before they occur
You can’t stop scammers from targeting you, but you can take steps to avoid falling victim to their scams. Let’s take a look.
Ignore and Block
When you receive a private social media message or text, an unsolicited email from an unknown sender or a company demanding your personal information, or a connection on a dating app suggests you take your conversation offline, don’t engage.
These aren’t just red flags — they’re flaming fires that you should ignore at all costs. Avoid interaction and block these messages.
Avoid clicking on links
Never click on a link sent through these methods unless you’re sure the sender is legitimate. If you receive a message or email from a nationally recognized brand, check the email address.
For example, if [email protected] is the sender behind a PayPal email, it’s not a credible message. Immediately block Wes.
Always visit a website directly rather than clicking on a link contained in a message.
Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry
The National Do Not Call Registry is a government list that you can sign up for to legally prevent telemarketer calls. Although this won’t protect you from scam calls and texts, it can help you to flag robocalls and texts as scammers — legitimate telemarketers are no longer allowed to call you once you’ve registered.
If you continue to receive voicemail messages, texts, or emails from scammers, you can also report them to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Ignore urgent demands for payment
Scammers favor urgency in their messaging. If you receive a call, text, letter, or email demanding immediate action or payment, it’s likely that you’ve been targeted by a scammer.
Some of these criminals will pose as the CEO or owner of the company you work for and via email or text, ask you to purchase gift cards for the staff on their behalf. Others might pose as family members or friends and ask you to “help them out” in an emergency situation. Always verify identity through direct contact.
Never send gift cards, money orders, personal checks, app payments, or direct deposits to a “representative” who claims you need to do so within the next hour. Some national retailers, like Safeway and Walgreen’s have implemented employee training and signs to warn customers against gift card scams. However, these retailers may still sell you an exorbitant amount of gift cards without saying a word.
No legitimate business will demand a payment within an hour or ask you to send confidential information via text, directly in an email, or through an unsecured link.
Learn How Scammers Operate to Protect Yourself from Fraud
Scammers have learned to use systems like shipping, rental cars, and rental homes against us. And they’re really good at staying under the radar. They also know a lot of psychological tricks to manipulate us and use our own brains to get us caught in their traps. In order to avoid scammers and stay safe, it’s important to know how the scams operate and what steps you can take to spot them.
See Scambaiting with Pierogi for a complete transcript of the Easy Prey podcast episode.
Pierogi is a scambaiter – someone who interacts with scammers in order to trick them, waste their time, and learn what they’re doing so the rest of us can avoid them and law enforcement can take them down. He protects the innocent and vulnerable from scammers through his YouTube channel Scammer Payback. In addition to exposing criminals, he helps victims with his technology and cybersecurity knowledge.
Pierogi’s Craziest Experiences with Scammers
Throughout his scambaiting experience, Pierogi has had some interesting interactions with scammers. They’ve ranged from ridiculous to sad, but his craziest one is the time he got married to a scammer.
When scambaiting, he often uses a voice changer to pretend to be a grandmother. Scammers have proposed to his grandmother character many times. But once, they actually went through with it. He went on a website and had the scammer read out the whole “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today” speech. He went line by line, and they did vows. It was very cringy. The scammer kept saying things like “You’re my bride, I want to kiss you,” and making kissing noises. Meanwhile, Pierogi was streaming this for thousands of people. At some point, it was just too much. He didn’t expect it to actually get that far, but it was funny.
Another scammer wrote out a will for this grandmother character. He claimed to have all this money, and the scammer wrote up a will where the “kids” wouldn’t get any money but would have to participate in a Hunger Games-style competition to get one of the cars or houses.
Emotional Manipulation makes it Hard to Avoid Scammers
These scammers know where to tighten the screws on people emotionally.
Pierogi
Part of what makes these scams so successful – and why it’s so hard to avoid scammers’ tricks – is the emotional manipulation element. There’s a report of a student who lost $30,000 to a scammer pretending to be from the Social Security Administration. The scammer claimed their social security number had been used in money laundering, and they got scared.
Pierogi himself has gotten a lot of harassing text messages from scammers. Sometimes when you don’t give them the money, they will move to harassment. They will say they’re outside your house, or that they know everything about you. And in cases, this can be true. If they have your phone number, they can use a people search website, property records, or even Google search results to find out your name, address, employer, family members’ names, or more. “Pierogi” is obviously a pseudonym, but Pierogi has had scammers call him by his real name. That’s one of the scary things that he tries to highlight in his videos – scammers know more than you think.
These scammers know a bunch. They know your husband, your wife, your kids, your parents. They know everything, and that … makes it scary.
Pierogi
Take These Steps to Avoid Scammers
A lot of people think that if they hear someone say a certain thing or say things a certain way that they would immediately know it’s a scammer. But you can’t make assumptions like that. There are scammers starting to pop up in the United States. You can’t assume it’s easy to avoid scammers because they’re always easy to spot.
We have to take it upon ourselves to have that personal security … we have the responsibility to protect ourselves.
Pierogi
We have to be aware. Pierogi calls it healthy paranoia. The internet and technology are great things, but we have the responsibility to protect ourselves. You probably lock the doors of your house at night. Similarly, sometimes we have to “lock” or “put passcodes on” our minds. If someone calls you with something that sounds legitimate, you can trust, but also verify. If you’re a trusting person generally, verify with someone else. We trust big names like Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple with a lot of things, but this becomes an issue when scammers use it against us. When someone gets you on the phone or leaves you a voicemail, use as many sources as you can to find out the truth. Maybe that’s checking your account online. Maybe it’s running it by another person for a second opinion.
Protecting Others Too
If you’re passionate about this, have conversations with other people, too. Your grandmother, mother, siblings, and children need to know about this stuff. Scammers don’t care about age, race, sex, religion, or anything else. Tell your parents or grandparents that if they get a call that sounds fishy or someone wants to talk about technical stuff that you don’t understand, they should call you, your brother, or someone else. Then if they do call, don’t look down on them. Remember, you’re watching out for each other.
Pierogi suspects that part of the reason older people are more suscpetible to scams is because they grew up in a more trusting time. When they were younger, kids could go play outside by themselves and locking doors wasn’t as big of a deal. People seemed more trustworthy, so they’re more quick to trust. If a scammer can come up with a plausible story, they are more open and quicker to trust them.
We sometimes depict scammers as just silly people. But they’re very good at what they do. It’s a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and it’s built off getting people to trust them when they really can’t be trusted. We have to protect ourselves and we have to protect otheres. We need to have conversations about these types of scams.
Find Pierogi on YouTube on his channel Scammer Payback. You can also find him on Twitch at twitch.tv/scammerpayback, on Twitter @scammerpayback, on Instagram @scammerpayback, and on Facebook. He does live streams, investigative videos, and videos not just about the calls but about the psychology and mental aspect of scams.
Privacy tools to safeguard against future fraud
How to prevent scams starts with understanding the methods scammers use and recognizing the warning signs of potential fraud attempts. However, there are proactive measures you can take to safeguard against fraud, too.
Privacy tools can provide an extra level of cybersecurity and protect you against fraud attempts. The following tools are just a few examples of apps that can help to give you peace of mind and keep pesky online scammers away:
- DeleteMe: DeleteMe is a fantastic privacy tool that allows you to delete your personal information from data broker sites and search engines, and has helped over 100 million users. This keeps your data from being sold to unscrupulous hackers and the dark web. DeleteMe is a great preventative measure to prevent scams.
- LifeLock: LifeLock protects the main areas that cybercriminals target for identity theft including finances and government identification. Over 63 million Americans have been negatively impacted by identity theft scams, and LifeLock can help you to prevent fraud from affecting your life. This identity theft protection tool is available in three reasonably priced membership packages and alerts you to any questionable use of your identity or social security number.
- Social Catfish: Wondering if your potential romantic match is who they say they are? If you want to avoid becoming a victim of romantic and other social connection scams, Social Catfish provides the protection you need. This privacy tool allows you to scan billions of records to verify your connections, protect your personal data, and more.
Check out the free privacy tool from What Is My IP Address and for more tips on how to prevent scams, visit our blog or listen to our Easy Prey podcastavailable on your favorite podcast platforms.
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